CD1
1. Black And Blue Bottom - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
2. Idolising - Jean Goldkette & His Orchestra
3. Stringing The Blues - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
4. I'm Telling The Birds, I'm Tellling The Bees - Cliff Edwards
5. Wild Cat - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
6. Sunshine - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
7. Singin' The Blues - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra with Bix & Lang
8. Bugle Call Rag - Red Nichols & His Five Pennies
9. Just The Same - Roger Wolfe Khan & His Orch.
10. Doin' Things - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
11. Goin' Places - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
12. I Like What You Like - Annette Hanshaw Acc. By The Four Instrumental Stars
13. Beating The Dog - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
14. A Mug Of Ale - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
15. Cheese And Crackers - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
16. Krazy Kat - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra
17. Perfect - Eddie Lang
18. Four String Joe - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
19. Dinah - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
20. Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now - Joe Venuti & His New Yorkers
21. The Man From The South - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
22. Good Little Bad Little You - Cliff Edwards
23. Sensation - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
24. Two Tone Stomp - Lonnie Johnson & Blind Willie Dunn
25. Kitchen Man – Bessie Smith
26. Bullfrog Moan - Lonnie Johnson & Eddie Lang
CD2
1. Anything - Napoleon's Emperors
2. Put And Take - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
3. Georgia On My Mind - Hoagy Carmichael & His Orchestra
4. The Wild Dog - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
5. I've Found A New Baby - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
6. Sweet Sue, Just You - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
7. When Your Lover Has Gone - Ethel Waters
8. There Ought To Be A Moonlight Saving Time – Ruth Etting
9. I'll Never Be The Same (Little Buttercup) - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
10. Little Girl - Joe Venuti's Blue Four
11. It's The Girl - The Boswell Sisters
12. There's No Other Girl - Joe Venuti's Rhythm Boys
13. Now That I Need You, You've Gone - Joe Venuti's Rhythm Boys
14. Oh! Peter (You're So Nice) - Red Nichols & His Five Pennies
15. Beale Street Blues - Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang & Their All Star Orchestra
16. After You've Gone - Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang & Their All Star Orchestra
17. Farewell Blues - Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang & Their All Star Orchestra
18. Someday Sweetheart - Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang & Their All Star Orchestra
19. Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula - Red Nichols & His Five Pennies
20. When We're Alone - Ruth Etting
22. Raggin' The Scale - Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang Blue Five
23. Pink Elephants - Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang Blue Five
24. Jig Saw Puzzle Blues - Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang Blue Five
25. Doin' The Uptown Lowdown - Joe Venuti & His Blue Six
In his book The Best of Jazz, Humphrey Lyttelton says of Eddie Lang: “His reputation among jazz buffs to this day rests largely on great
partnerships which he formed – with blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson…and, more especially, with his boyhood friend and fellow Italian, violinist Joe Venuti”.
Joe and Eddie were both born in the early 1900s, and grew up in Philadelphia where they attended the same school. As children, they both studied violin as
well as guitar, which must have given them extra insight when they played together, as they often did in the twenties and thirties – until Lang’s death in
1933. They were most famous for the duets they recorded during those years, although they were also in demand to play for some of the major bands of that
period. This double CD includes them performing with bands led by Jean Goldkette, Frankie Trumbauer, Red Nichols and Hoagy Carmichael, as well as
accompanying such vocalists as Bessie Smith and Annette Hanshaw.
Venuti and Lang were pioneers because they brought the violin and the guitar centre-stage in jazz for the first time. The arrival of electrical recording
meant that Lang’s guitar could be heard on records. And Joe Venuti successfully transferred his experience playing classical violin to the context of jazz.
It is noticeable that, in the earliest recordings on this album, Lang mostly acts as accompanist to Venuti. Only later did he contribute his own solos. Yet
Lang’s accompaniments were often superb. A fine example of this is Bix Beiderbecke’s famous 1927 recording of Singin’ The Blues with Frankie
Trumbauer’s Orchestra. Eddie adds perfect backings, both chords and single-note lines, with arpeggios to lift the music.
Although Stéphane Grappelli & Django Reinhardt are often regarded as the
classic violin-and-guitar duo, Venuti & Lang were just as capable
and telepathic. In fact Lang’s guitar was in some respects less dominating
than Reinhardt’s: leaving plenty of space for the music to breathe.
Venuti could be more abrasive than Grappelli: in fact you can sometimes
regard him as a precursor to Stuff Smith’s style of forceful fiddle.
Both Venuti and Lang were capable of playing at breath-taking speeds
in such tracks as Wild Cat, Goin’ Places and The
Wild Dog.
In addition to the virtuosity of Venuti and Lang, this album contains extra
delights in the chance to hear famous musicians like Benny Goodman
as they developed. It is also a pleasure to savour Adrian Rollini’s
multi-instrumental talents, particularly on the bass saxophone. Jack
Teagarden’s younger brother Charlie appears in several tracks on the
second CD (tracks 15 to 18). He was an inventive trumpeter who deserves
to be better known.
The recording quality is understandably variable, with some early recordings
sounding boxy or distant. But in general the transfers are acceptable
and they remind us of musicians who should never be forgotten.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Fabulous FADCD 2041
